POPULATION HEALTH RESEARCH
In this issue of the newsletter, we will be highlighting research being carried out by the Department of Population Health at DDI, led by Dr. Hessa Alkandari.
Development And Implementation Of A National Diabetes Registry – Population Health Research
Published on 19/07/2019
Based on the experience with the ongoing pediatric diabetes registry, Kuwait will move ahead to develop and implement a comprehensive national registry including T1D, T2D and other forms of diabetes in all age groups, including MODY and GDM. This ambitious project is spearheaded by DDI in close collaboration with MOH as well as other relevant stakeholders such as the Kuwait Diabetes Society (KDS). Strategically, the registry is well placed at MOH as it is integrated into the Non Communicable Disease (NCD) Committee’s work plan and thus linked to national efforts to address the Sustainable Development Goals.
“This is a critical time to launch a national diabetes registry in Kuwait as more and more people are diagnosed with diabetes, also at young age. Diabetes represents a major part of non-communicable diseases (NCD) and MOH has made it a priority to combat this public health problem. Access to data to monitor the number of patients and their use of services will be essential for MOH to provide good healthcare for all diabetic patients in Kuwait.” – DR. MUSTAFA REDHA, UNDERSECRETARY, MOH.
The national registry will integrate clinical and laboratory data from Primary Health Centers and MOH Hospital Information Systems covering all six governorates of Kuwait. The establishment of a close collaboration between relevant information technology departments at MOH and DDI represents a critical component in the development of an electronic registry suitable to the currently used health information systems at different sites within the healthcare system.
The national registry will integrate clinical and laboratory data from Primary Health Centers and MOH Hospital Information Systems covering all six governorates of Kuwait. The establishment of a close collaboration between relevant information technology departments at MOH and DDI represents a critical component in the development of an electronic registry suitable to the currently used health information systems at different sites within the healthcare system.
“As a leading center for research and management of diabetes in Kuwait, DDI is committed to contribute to the development and implementation of the national diabetes registry. The registry will be an integral part of our long-standing, close collaboration with MOH and an important source of information to researchers and clinicians working to reduce the burden of diabetes in Kuwait.” – DR. QAIS AL DUWAIRI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, DDI.
The initiative started in September 2018 and is planned to be rolled out nationwide over a period of 5 years. The registry will be launched as a pilot project in one health region (Farwaniya; total population 1,200,000) during 2019. It is anticipated that the registry will be a rich source of data for researchers and clinicians as well as wide range of information on diabetes care in Kuwait to be used for healthcare planning and allocation of funding for this major public health problem.
REFERENCES:
1. Shaltout A, Wake D, Thanaraj T, Omar D, Al-AbdulRazzaq D, Channanath A, AlKandari H, Abdulrasoul M, Miller S, Conway N, Tuomilehto J, Davidsson L. Incidence of type 1 diabetes has doubled in Kuwaiti children 0-14 years over the last 20 years. Pediatric Diabetes, 2016; 18(8):761-766.
2. Shaltout AA, Channanath AM, Thanaraj TA, Omar D, Abdulrasoul M, Zanaty N, Almahdi M, Alkandari H, Al-Abdulrazzaq D, d’Mello L, Mandani F. Ketoacidosis at first presentation of type 1 diabetes mellitus among children: a study from Kuwait. Scientific Reports. 2016; June 22;6:27519.
